In the wake of the horrific shooting that left GOP Majority Whip Steve Scalise in critical condition, many saw the need to put our differences aside and show a bit of unity. Although political times are contentious, the use of violence over political disagreements is never justified.

For the most part, politicians on both sides of the aisle took the tragic lesson to heart. At the Congressional baseball game, the two parties came together for a moment of prayer, surely many with Rep. Scalise in their thoughts. For a moment, it seemed as though they’d be able to put aside the hateful rhetoric and get back to honest debate.

Of course, not everyone was able to put political differences aside and show a little respect. When President Trump appeared on the big screen to deliver a message of unity during the game, many Democratic staffers were caught jeering and insulting the president. Evidently, such a tragic event does nothing to cool the hatred of some.

While the reaction of those staffers may have been pathetic, it pales in comparison to the reaction of a prominent Democratic strategist. Instead of denouncing the violence that took place in Alexandria, he began to advocate for more of it.

After a shooter in Alexandria left House Majority Whip Steve Scalise in critical condition and wounded four other people, a longtime New Jersey Democratic political strategist responded by introducing the hashtags #HuntRepublicans and #HuntRepublicanCongressmen.

“We are in a war with selfish, foolish & narcissistic rich people,” wrote James Devine on Twitter. “Why is it a shock when things turn violent? #HuntRepublicanCongressmen.”

Devine has run for office, consulted for numerous New Jersey campaigns, and worked in the offices of state lawmakers. He’s also a blogger.

Later, he doubled down on his hashtag campaign in an interview:

In an interview with MyCentralNewJersey.com, Devine said, “If you want to invite a class war, then you have to expect people to fight back at some point.” The Democratic strategist also wrote on Facebook that he had “little sympathy” for Scalise because of his lack of support for gun control.

It’s exactly this kind of attitude that will inevitably lead to even more bloodshed. There’s no excuse to advocate violence over political disagreements. Doing so makes you makes you nothing more than a terrorist.

Sadly, views like this are largely accepted as long as they come from the left. The New York Times can falsely claim that a Sarah Palin ad led to the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, yet characters like James Devine go unnoticed. The hypocrisy needs to end before it leads to even more tragedy.

[Note: This post was authored by Michael Lee. Follow him on Twitter @UAMichaelLee]

Meet Allen West

Allen West was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia in the same neighborhood where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once preached. He is the third of four generations of military servicemen in his family.

During his 22 year career in the United States Army, Lieutenant Colonel West served in several combat zones: in Operation Desert Storm, in Operation Iraqi Freedom, where he was a Battalion Commander in the Army’s 4th Infantry Division, and later in Afghanistan.